Mod creators: How do you handle WIP modding?

[Ryno917]

Like many, I've returned to FO4, again, after the show. This time, though, I'm trying to make a few of my own items.

 

First up, is a new modular rifle heavily inspired by the Europa set of weapons in Destiny 2. I really liked their look, and with some headcannon gymnastics I feel like the style makes sense in an FO4 playthrough where you've got some industry in your settlements. The idea is that the weapon is crafted from cast chassis components, in two halves, bolted around minimal mechanical componentry. I've spent a few hours over the last few days working on the model, and currently I have the base parts almost all modeled as well as a couple alternate components. Once I finish all the parts I want to include I'll get to UVs and texturing before I try to get it working in game.

Anyways; the question. For those of you who make mods, how do you handle implementation and testing without borking your saves? Do you just fork out a save at some point that you have dedicated to testing a WIP mod? Do you just start a new game and console command items in?

I've got a couple days' worth of playtime on my new save, which I don't want to nuke, by testing a new mod I'm creating. Curious how the veterans handle this.

Secondary question - I've seen people recommending a tri count in the 25-50K range for a weapon. Is that a figure for one full configuration, or total for every single part combined? Are there LODs? Do you need a world model for every component, or does the game just use the full model for dropped weapons?

Tertiary question - Can anyone explain how to set up a weapon with a colour palette for recolouring? I can't find much on it (but I might just be searching the wrong terms)

Thanks in advance for any input!

Edited May 29 by Ryno917

[worm82075]

Me personally if my tests don't require a save and reload (and most don't) then i just don't save anything after it was introduced.  Always returning to the same save for each test and artificially producing circumstances such as level, location and quest completions. it's very unlikely that anything outside of a quest or worldspace change will require an overly large number of natural testing circumstances.

Workshopframework has assisted me in this endeveaor by giving me a one click unlock of all workshops command that lets me fast travel almost anywhere for testing without COC(which can cause problems with certain tests).  After my test i delete all the saves created during the test and i am left with the lastest save from before I introduced the new mod.

I have also had to do more extensive testing that required a game restart and play through up to level 20 and that entire save was a throw away(nearly 30 times) for We are the Liberty Reborn Minutemen.

After completing the mod however it is now part of my load order and subsequent tests for mistakes and or bugs reported by my users has been done right in my current playthrough.

[TurntLogic]

For testing, I'll coc in straight from the main menu. It'll create a fresh character every time.

For texture palettes, you could look at this guide. It should give you an idea of how they work.

[Ryno917]

Thanks for the input, guys!

So the basic strat is to just not save if your main playthrough, more or less. What about mod updates? Do formIDs get reset when you update a mod, breaking anything?

 

  

10 hours ago, TurntLogic said:

For texture palettes, you could look at this guide. It should give you an idea of how they work.

If I'm reading it right, any non-colourable details will need to be on a separate material then, correct? It doesn't sort of work like an underlay where you can have graphics that are not affected by the palette, correct? In that case, do I need to export the different materials as separate objects or does FO4 allow multiple materials on one object?

Edited May 29 by Ryno917

[RoNin1971]

I have a few different 'saves' / characters. My main save, currently, is 18+ days in. My smallest is 0:20 minutes in, just out of V111. I jst pick the one I need.

I have a separate save where I did a speed-run to Vault 88, just outside, and another where I cleared it completely. (to test any difference in '1st time entry' & 'return entry')

Pretty much the same approach as Worm82075. I save it only if needed and always keep the last save from BEFORE adding the mod.

In case of my workshop items I usually save it & load that one save for testing anything new. So I know updating the mod works.

For my texture mods it doesn't matter, as they are loose files and do not require a mod file (.esp) and so they have 0 impact. (and changes are instantly applied, whatever you load. Delete them and you are back to 'vanilla'.)

[Pellape]

I made 2 bigger mods that took approx 2 years to make each. The first one was for Morrowind, the Caldera Ancient Mine, and I got it released 1 week before Oblivion came out 2006, so that was a failure in one way as the download rate became very low but in the other hand, it came into a video and  mentioned in the 10 best dungeons for Morrowind 2017 and I remade it 2020, to fix bugs and pathing. It still get downloads.

The other one, was for Oblivion, the Legacy of the Champion, and it worked great to make some quests, release it, make some more and update it. Oblivion is the most sensible crash game ever, but it is possible to get it stable, with the right mods and bug-fixes but I guess it would have taken 8 more years to actually complete that mod or 20 or something like that.

All other smaller mods got released after I felt they where finished. Finding beta tasers are not easy, so it is best to just peek in the bug section and follow the forum for all mods.

For Fallout 4 or Skyrim?  Adding stuff should not break anything but deleting stuff might. So if you wanna get rid of something, then it might be best to just lower it under a floor or under the ground. Bethesda have stuff at the edges of the world or rather beyond, and why do they have that?      

I see you use Blender, which is such a nice app. I have used it myself since 2005. 

Edited May 29 by Pellape

[Ryno917]

Thanks, guys! As usual I'm over thinking it, it seems

@Pellape - Yep, Blender. I've been teaching myself since about 2018 or so, here and there. The majority has been car related, but still only released one mod to date. This is my first non-racing sim personal project. I'm still fairly novice with it, and struggle with the workflow—I've been using parametric 3D Solid CAD for 20 years now, and the workflows between the two couldn't be any more different. Very challenging to adapt to the various quirks and workflows of poly modeling after so much time working parametrically. I'm getting there, though!

[Pellape]

Cars? That's the most difficult things to work with for sure as an artist but I feel clothes are more difficult really. I have been a 3D student (Product Visualizations) now for a year but I plan to drop it as it was not as fun as I expected . well making 3D is but  no artists in Europe make any really as that is to expensive, but I took a free car mesh with out materials, I guess I used the wrong DL but I planned to remake all UV, materials and so one anyway and I ended up with this one.

 

The 3D boss at Volvo did like this as I did show it to him at a convent we had where the class did a showreal. I did choose the colors and the only object in this mesh that had a proper UV was the wheels as the one that made that mesh, took the wheels from somewhere else for sure. A couple of objects where also broken so I had to remake the steering wheel and delete vertices in the front panel, that was corrupt. Odd why so many free meshes are corrupt really. 

Yes, we learned Fusion 360 a year ago and I like to use it for some stuff for sure, as some things are much easier to do with the Cad then it is in Blender and vice verse. It all depends of what you plan to make really. The biggest problem is that all buttons are vice verse and I cannot imagine any 2D or 3D software that are the other like when it comes to anything really. There is no standard at all, except for Ctrl-O,Ctrl-s, copy and paste. 

Do you have any car-jobs to show off?

 

 

Edited May 30 by Pellape

[Ryno917]

Nicely done! Volvo is one of the very, very, few brands that still makes attractive vehicles. Very few.

Last year I released a small mid engine sports car for Assetto Corsa, and I've got a few other projects in the works as well including a GT4 spec race version of this one.

I've started a Group C car, a late 60s F2/3 car, a 2003 LMP car, three tracks, and I have several other projects in various stages of planning as well. I'll finish something else at some point 

 

 

[Pellape]

3 hours ago, Ryno917 said:

Nicely done! Volvo is one of the very, very, few brands that still makes attractive vehicles. Very few.

Wow. That loooks amazing. very nice job with the textures and materials but I do guess they are decals and a blue base material? Mine is much more simple as it is just a simple plain Blender material, nothing else. I made a simple UV anyway as the original was scattered all over the place. 

When I was a kid, Volvo was called a box during the 70's. Our first Volvo was a Amazon and I do think they still look cool and it is a car that makes me turn around my head these days when I see  one. Otherwise I prefer Audi before Volvo and I am not really sure I like the new models or not. When I presented that video, well a longer version with sound for my class mates, I opened my presentation and said:

-I am not sure if Volvo is ugly or beautiful or both at the same time. 

But working with that model, which I did choose only because I live in Volvo-town, Gothenburg, made me open up my eyes for some cool and original details. But honestly, cars today is all about design, nothing else. During the 80's it was more important to choose the right car, and I later bought an Audi 100 1987 which did not rust, like other cars did back then. My last car was a Audi A3 and I was forced to sell it a year ago.

Sorry for Highjacking your thread and talk about cars...